Because the color cranberry is vibrant and bold, and the fruit is beautiful and firm, and yes, a little tart...but not bitter! Like me.

Friday, July 13, 2007

Eheu! Fugaces labuntur anni.

(~Alas! The fleeting years slip by)

Today marks a milestone for me....I am officially the mother of a teenager! Today is Lyndsay's 13th birthday.

Lyns is in Arizona with her dad, as she always is on her birthday. We celebrate a month early, but when the big day comes, she is, of course, on my mind.

I was due with her on July 6, 1994. We were so excited to be parents and we tried everything to get Lyndsay to want to come out as the big day approached. I went for long walks in the mall, sat in a squatting position throughout the day, even painted the trim on our house, but because a week had gone by (and I was an inexperienced and more timid first-time mom), my doctor decided to induce. I remember very clearly waking up that morning to call the hospital and register. We hung up the phone and went back to sleep, thinking it would be hours before they called us with availability. Not so! Thirty minutes later, I was in the shower and shaving so we could hop in the truck and head over to the hospital. (First time moms feel the need to shave before giving birth.) I distinctly remember the combination of emotions that flooded through me as I walked down the corridor of Labor and Delivery. I actually had to do this and I couldn't go home till I did. Yikes.

As far as actual births go, it wasn't the best. There was an epidural that went awry, an episiotomy that later became infected, and a vacuum delivery. But I was so thrilled with the end result, and had nothing to compare it to, so I was ecstatic. At 9:14pm on July 13, 1994, I became a mother, though I look back at pictures and think I look like such a baby myself! I remember in the stillness of the night she was brought to me to nurse and as she and I gazed into each other's eyes, I couldn't believe my good fortune, and the love that swelled within me. I had this perfect, beautiful little girl. Beautiful from second one. Seriously. And she changed my life. She still does.

Sweet pictures and a great post that brought me down my own memory lane. I'm a year out from having a teenager, and I'm already freaking out. (HOW did this happen? I'm not that old! HE'S not that old!) I'm still trying to grasp it!